Gov. John Hickenlooper, left, and former Congressman Bob Beauprez are in the Denver Post Debate 2014 at the Denver Post auditorium in Denver on September 30, 2014. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

12 p.m. UPDATE: The Beauprez campaign has commented on the statements and those comments are now included below.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez said in a Denver Post debate Tuesday night that he would repeal Colorado’s new law granting those living here illegally driver’s licenses, departing from a campaign statement last month saying he would uphold the law.

“(The licensing program) is the law of the state of Colorado,” said Allen Fuller, a Beauprez campaign spokesman, for a Sept. 4 article in The Post. “And, as governor, Bob will uphold the laws of the state, not pick and choose the ones he likes.”

The Beauprez camp has repeatedly said the former congressman will uphold the state’s laws if he is elected governor in response to questions about controversial topics, including the death penalty and abortion. Further, the campaign has also attacked opponent Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, on what they call his inability to follow Colorado law and weak leadership.

The Beauprez campaign disagreed that the comments represented a change in stance, saying, “Bob has said consistently he does not support this law. He believes it is a symptom of a broken immigration system that neither Barack Obama nor John Hickenlooper have the will to fix.”

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, at left, listens to remarks from Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob Beauprez during a debate in Grand Junction Saturday night. (William Woody, Special to The Denver Post.)

If the function in Grand Junction was a sign of the campaigns ahead, two things are clear after their first debate. Incumbent Gov. John Hickenlooper is an intellectual eager to work out solutions for the greater public good. Secondly, Beauprez is a direct-speaking rancher who will take on what he sees as important fights with the federal government.

Hickenlooper’s strongest charge of the night was saying Beauprez, the former congressman, preferred the “Washington way” of combative politics to the “Colorado way” of compromise and solutions. Sunday, Team Beauprez fired back at the umbrage with federal lands as the tip of the rhetorical spear.

Gov. John Hickenlooper took a commanding lead from late July to late August, raising more than twice the tally of Republican challenger Bob Beauprez.

The fundraising may have been fueled, at least in part, by the closeness of the race — surprising, given that Beauprez lost the governor’s race to non-incumbent Bill Ritter in 2006 by 17 percentage points.

Harry Hempy, the Green Party candidate in this year’s gubernatorial election, talks about why he is running for office. (Screenshot)

Harry Hempy, the Green Party candidate running in this year’s gubernatorial election, released a campaign ad Aug. 21 in which he talks about running for office on the platform of ending big-money politics and the two-party system.

Hempy talks about how the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case that the government cannot limit campaign donations because it would be a violation of the First Amendment was what really drove him to run for governor.

“The ungodly amounts of money that is spent by Democrats and Republicans to win office is not the way we should be having our elections,” he says in the video. “We don’t want money to be determining who gets elected. Colorado needs to fundamentally change its election process so that we have more than two candidates to choose from who represent more than just the money, the interests, that fund their campaigns.”

Amy Stephens, a state representative and former House minority leader from Monument. (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post_

The Denver Post’s debate between six of the seven candidates for U.S. Senate Tuesday night was as much about sizing up themselves as it was tearing down and each other, and especially the Democrat currently sitting in the seat. One of the debaters, Ken Buck, is back to take a second shot at the Senate, after losing a close race to Michael Bennet in 2010.

State Senator Owen Hill from Colorado Springs

Udall was called an “enabler” to President Obama and characterized as an incompetent public official who made a half-hearted effort to stop the National Security Agency’s spying program that amassed piles of phone and e-mail records of Americans in the search for terrorist plots. That was a hard case to make. A member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Udall challenged the Obama White House on the issue and voted against his own party’s interest when the Democrats put up an NSA reform bill.

“We didn’t need an Edward Snowden to go to Russia,” said state Sen. Owen Hill of Colorado Springs, referencing the leaker who brought the NSA kerfuffle to light then fled the country to avoid criminal charges. “We needed a Mark Udall to stand up for the American people … After Edward Snowden left, then all of the sudden we have the courageous Mark Udall.”

Wayne Williams, now clerk and recorder in El Paso County, at the 2008 Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities. Williams is running for Colorado secretary of state in 2014.

It’s endorsement season for the 2014 elections, which is kind of like the preseason in the NFL, if you think about it. It shows who you’ve got on your roster, without showing too much of what we’ll see during the regular campaign season. Even if you think kitchen-table voters won’t much care who Bill Owens likes when they fill out their mail ballots next year, you better believe the same-party opponents of his preferred candidates pay attention when a former popular governor gets on your bandwagon. Down South they call them kingmakers for good reason. Endorsement season also matters in the here and now because it’s the best early indicator as to which side the party is leaning. Behind the scenes, politics is a team sport.

Wayne Williams, the El Paso County clerk and recorder, has locked up many of the most recognized names in the state GOP, judging from the list he released Wednesday.

Williams’ roster has 80 names — that’s five municipal leaders, 23 county commissioners, four state education officials, his local sheriff and district attorney, 20 current or former state House members, 16 current and former state Senate members, four former Colorado congressmen, a former U.S. senator, two former Colorado secretaries of state, Attorney General John Suthers, former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton, plus the aforementioned Gov. Owens.

Earlier this month, thousands of people marched on Capitol Hill in support of immigration reform. Tuesday, clergy and conservatives from across the country will add their voices to the campaign. (Chris Kleponis/Getty Images)

First it was college presidents, now it’s the clergy putting pressure on Congress to get serious about immigration reform. The Senate passed a bipartisan bill in June, and leaders ranging from Barack Obama to church pastors in Colorado are urging Republicans in the House to move forward on the issue.

Hundreds of evangelical leaders and conservatives will rally on Capitol Hill Tuesday in an event called “Americans for Reform: Immigration Reform for our Economy, Faith and Security,” organized by the Partnership for a New American Economy; Bibles, Badges and Business for Immigration Reform; FWD.us and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The Senate bill would tighten border security, give more people access to visas and provide a 13-year path to citizenship for many of the estimated 12 million undocumented residents in the United States. Some Republicans in the House say the reforms amount to an open-door policy for immigrants. Moreover, immigration reform would be a signature achievement for President Obama. Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Denver, was on the Gang of Eight -senators – four Democrats and four Republicans — that crafted the Senate bill.

In a 2011 photo, state Treasurer Walker Stapleton, flanked by staffers Brett Johnson, at left, and Michael Fortney, joked he “stopped, dropped and rolled” before leaving the Capitol because of a fire alarm. (Lynn Bartels/The Denver Post)

The Secretary of State’s office made campaign finance reports available online Tuesday. Contributions indicate Democrats will have some catching up to do, though we’re still a long way from Election Day. Betsy Markey, the former congresswoman from Fort Collins, raised just shy of $100,000 in the last quarter. Her primary opponent, Broomfield Mayor Patrick Quinn, reported $33,300, putting in $20,000 of his money.

Markey released a statement in a press release Tuesday afternoon, citing support of “grassroots Democrats from all across Colorado.”

“The people of Colorado deserve a full-time treasurer, and I’m humbled and thrilled that so many Coloradans have already joined our campaign,” she stated. “Colorado families watch their bottom lines and live within their means every day. We deserve a state government, and a state treasurer, determined to do the same. A smarter, more efficient, more innovative state treasury will mean a stronger, more prosperous, more confident Colorado economy—that’s what this campaign is all about.”

I posted this Monday night about the Republican incumbent’s remarkable quarter:

Walker Stapleton is packing his war chest full of cash, according to a campaign finance report he is expected to file on Tuesday. The first-term state treasurer probably won’t have a Republican primary challenger to spend it on.

Virna Rodriquez, left, and Alicia Perez, then students at Bruce Randolph High School, rally in favor of the DREAM Act on the steps of Denver’s City and County Building in 2010.(John Prieto/ The Denver Post).

The presidents of five colleges in the state and Colorado State University’s system chancellor have signed a letter asking their representatives in Congress to get a move on with immigration reform. Fairness and the economy can’t wait any longer, they said.

“Immigration reform would help Colorado’s economy to thrive,” Colorado College president Jill Tiefenthaler said in a statement released by the Partnership for a New American Economy, a bipartisan coalition of more than 500 mayors and heads of top U.S. businesses who have joined with education leaders nationwide “to support sensible immigration reform that will strengthen America’s economy,” according to the partnership.

Tiefenthaler concluded, “We educate some of the brightest minds in the world right here in Colorado. As our students graduate and begin to accomplish great feats in their chosen fields, we would like to see them stay here and contribute to Colorado’s communities and economy.”

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.